By Deborah Bailey, Contributing Editor
The East Coast debut of playwright Cheryl West’s “Shout Sister Shout!: The Untold Story of Rock and Roll Trailblazer Rosetta Tharpe, is the poignant and jubilant theatrical journey of a Black girl rising from the deep, Jim Crow South of the early and mid-Twentieth century to a world-wide stage– all of the whereas holding her guitar by her facet and religion in her coronary heart.
“I really like bringing work to D.C. as a result of audiences are receptive they usually can intuit love is embedded within the work,” stated the playwright in regards to the heat and vibrant reception the play has acquired since opening night time at Ford’s Theatre, on March 15.
The play depicts key scenes in Tharpe’s life, performed by actress Carrie Compere. Audiences see Tharpe in her early days of crossing backwards and forwards between trustworthy service at her native Arkansas Church of God in Christ (COGIC) to hanging out within the juke joints of the agricultural south, experiencing the rhythm of life throughout a interval in American historical past when the division between secular and sacred was clearly marked.
When Tharpe travels to New York for an audition, the world quickly discovers what these of us within the church already know: Tharpe and so many artists like her via the years have an incredible expertise with a sound that touches audiences. Whether or not she sang “Stroll All Over God’s Heaven” at Carnegie Corridor or in an Arkansas COGIC church the place the denomination was based, Tharpe’s reward was unmistakable.
“That is outstanding, ” commented Debbie Jackson, a patron of the play. “This manufacturing is true to the narrative of Tharpe’s life and the expertise is wonderful.”
There was clapping, shouting and good quaint name and response all through the night time at Ford’s theater as Compere’s commanding expertise and contralto vary actually channeled Tharpe and left the viewers standing on their toes. The whole forged left the viewers no selection however to rise in standing ovations all through the night.
Compere’s joyous but tenacious depiction of Tharpe’s journey compels the viewers to take part within the play. She demonstrates each a joyful innocence and a troublesome resilience all through the scenes that beckons you to seek out someplace within the night you may take part.
“I’m simply thrilled to have this specific present at Ford’s Theatre,” West stated. “I simply adore it when the work makes the viewers need to say issues, makes them need to cry out and sing alongside. That’s essentially the most great reward to any author,” West stated.
Right now’s Ford’s Theatre has completely reworked – and so have its creative choices. The brand new Ford’s Theatre – sure that Ford’s Theatre, the long-lasting venue of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in 1865, has stepped into the twenty first century. It’s now the house of productions which are vibrant, transformative and reflective of the tradition of latest, numerous patrons.
Sheldon Epps, Ford’s Theatre’s Senior Creative Advisor, and veteran director and author for each stage and display screen is a part of the historic theater’s transformation and the creator of the brand new power patrons are experiencing. A separate function with a deal with Epps’ contributions to Ford’s Theatre, and his creative journey shall be featured later this spring.
Shout Sister Shout! is the play to attend this Easter Season. In case you are searching for that cathartic expertise, that reflective journey via pleasure and ache that reveals the floor contradictions and in the end results in the deeper waters of our religion journeys and our lives – no matter religion you observe; this play will take you there.
Whereas Shout Sister Shout! has no relation to the vacation, its themes of forgiveness and fortitude; renewal and redemption will encourage you to persevere– like Tharpe did–and maintain on to that distinctive music and sound that you simply provide to the world.
Shout Sister Shout is featured at Ford’s Theatre via Might 13.
